Lost Boys: Vintage Images of Rick Donovan

Lost Boys: 

Vintage Images of Rick Donovan

It's a fact of life that some people toil in jobs they dislike for a good portion of their lives. The reasons vary, but most do it for the money and because it is something they can do in order to make a living. 

But can you imagine a gay porn star living with that kind of disconnect? 

Well, I could be all wrong here, but the subject of today's Lost Boys, Rick Donovan would seem to fit that bill. Ask yourself... Where's the smile? I mean, it's not like he was working to achieve a practiced, grizzled growl of a face - he's not acting, he's not an actor. Every photo, every performance... it looks like he just wants to get through it and go home.

Fact is, he's a rather average looking man with some interesting facial features, with a lovely, but not exceptional body and a huge penis. That last attribute alone is enough to gain a bit of attention in the industry. But keep in mind, there was never any attempt to create a persona - Rick Donovan is exactly as is; a somewhat dispirited-looking young man with a huge dick. And yet, despite his demeanor, that large member of his was enough to cement his place in The Gay Porn Hall of Fame. 

But... did he enjoy his work?

Well... eventually, I think he did. After a change in focus (more on that later). But at first? 

No. And why? Tell me...

Who is the man with the golden gun who looks so glum?

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Rick Donovan
Aka: Roy Michael Artley
Nickname: Humungous
Birthdate: 1963

Birthplace: San Diego, CA
Height: 5' 11"
Weight: 170
Cock Size: 10.5 Cut
Position: Top
Years Active: 1983-1998

33 Films
48 Compilations

Born in 1963, Roy Michael Artley would be rechristened Rick Donovan when, at the age of 20, he entered the world of gay porn. 

According to photographer Kirk Deitrick, before Donovan appeared in a single film, he had the opportunity to take the first photos of a then (according to Deitrick) "22 year-old" Donovan, who lived in San Diego and was "fresh out of the service". 

Once those pictures were published, the film offers flooded in. One such film, William Higgin's 1983 film, Sailor In The Wild was well-received and a huge financial success. It would help set the stage for Donovan's dominance in the gay porn industry for the next few years. 

In 1984 and 1985, he would appear in seven pictures each of those years. Yes, the man was in high demand.

1983 
Giants
Sailor In The Wild

1984 
Arousers
Bigger the Better
Biggest One I Ever Saw
Boys of Company F
Heroes
King Size
Pleasure Mountain

1985 
Getting It
Hard To Come By
Ivy League
Life Guard
Men And Steel
Sgt. Swann's Private Files
Dynastud

1986 

Stick Shift

1987 
Bi and Beyond 1

1988 
Think Big

1989 
On Top
Private Collection Screen Test

1990 
More Of A Man
She's A Boy
She's A He

1991 
Big Ones

1992 
Latin Tongues

1994 
Bigger the Better 2
Captain Stud And His Seamen
Club Sex-A-Holics
Dynastud 2: Powerhouse

1995 
Think Big 2

1997 
Hard To Swallow

1998 
Latino Sex Toy

One scene in particular helped continue this momentum. 

In 1984's The Bigger, the Better, Donovan was partnered with Matt Ramsey (now, better known as straight porn star Peter North). North shot his load three times during the scene, fueling audience speculation that Donovan had to be the top to end all tops. Later in North's career, when questioned about this scene, he would refuse to talk about it. Apparently, Mr. North does not like dishing about his years in gay porn. In fact, before he will grant an interview, it is agreed on in advance that those years and films will not be discussed. (I think that reluctance guarantees that Mr. Matt Ramsey/Peter North is destined to be featured in a future Lost Boys post!)

With great success comes great pressure... and, from all appearances, Donovan frequently struggled to live up to expectations. You see, he sometimes seemed to have problems achieving an erection on film. In fact, it would be fair to say he rarely became fully erect and can often be seen grasping the base of his dick with a hand in order to force blood into it. Now, keep in mind... these are the days before Viagra and Cialis, which is why he had to literally take matters into his own hands.

Turns out, there is a reason Donovan isn't smiling or looking at the dude he's topping: Rick Donovan is bisexual and primarily attracted to pre-op, transgender women. Although, when partnered with another actor, he would top in all of his films, it has been said that in his private life he was a bottom and  preferred being topped by pre-op transgender women.

This would help explain the number of solo film appearances Donovan makes throughout his porn career. Producers and directors needed his name and dick in their films to sell them, but that didn't necessarily mean that Donovan had to have sex with other men in order to be involved. So, this apparent challenge actually became the key to spurring creativity, culminating in some fairly inventive scenes.

According to Dave Kinnick, in his book, Sorry I Asked: Intimate Interviews with Gay Porn's Rank and File, on set, Donovan would use pictures of transgender women get himself hard. And, indeed, in several of his films, if you watch his eyes, Donovan is looking over or beyond the man he's topping. It has been said, by more than one eye-witness, that Donovan was looking at pictures of transgender women in order to remain semi-hard and achieve orgasm.

And it turns out Donovan's love of pre-op transgender women was not limited to the fantasy world of porn. 

Producer/Director Dirk Yates said in a 1989 Manshots interview that a drag queen friend of his introduced him to Donovan, who was known to prefer this "type". Yates said his friend, the drag queen and Donovan lived together for a number of years.

In fact, as the '90s approached, one can see his true life desires coming to life on screen. with a shift in focus in film choices. He began to appear in a number of bisexual films featuring transgender women. For example, he appeared in several films with Leilani, a Polynesian pre-op transgender woman. The two met in 1990, while filming She's A Boy and She's A He.

Leilani in She-Male Nurses

While researching this post, I happened on a scene with the two of them. Guess what? Had a headline appeared touting the film, it would have simply read: "Donovan Smiles". The two became lovers off-screen and she is one of the reasons Donovan would take time away from the adult film industry.

In 1991 and 1992, Donovan would appear in only one film each year.  And in 1993...

...he was nowhere to be found. 

But the man was busy - taking care of Leilani as she lay dying.

Haron Masters writes, "I was friends with Rick Donovan, who was her lover, and was directly involved during the last six months of her life. For historical accuracy she did indeed die of AIDS. She was cremated and her ashes were spread up at the Russian River."

Rick would return to the industry in 1994 for four films. After that? One a year until 1998 and then... adios. 

After '94, Rick moved on. In the early '90s, he lived and worked  in San Diego as a part-time bartender at a popular gay bar called The Brass Rail. He still did occasional escort work (it is rumored that at one point, actor Charlie Sheen hired Donovan to have sex with a pre-op transgender woman so he could watch) and made public appearances... such as those he did during Dallas/Houston's 1994 Gay Pride celebration week. 

People who knew him said "he was sweet and very, very smart" and that "he was a bit paranoid, and regretted not being able to go out much without people staring at him; the flip side of fame."

But his life was not without love...

Alexandra Billings

Actress Alexandra Billings (Transparent, The Conners) has talked about her relationship with Rick in her cabaret act. On her website, she says that they were in a serious relationship and, at one point, talked about getting married.

Another persistent rumor is that he became a paramedic.

As of March 2008, Rick Donovan was still alive and living in San Diego.

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Rick was always a bit of a puzzle to me. I liked his look. He reminded me a lot of the dumb jocks I went to high school with. And his dick? Whoah! But once you looked beyond that, you saw the sad child in him - and that sort of ruined it for me. 

I'm glad I did my research on this one. He turned out to be much more interesting than I expected.

Now I know a little more about what was going on behind that face. 

I think the world of those who choose to be caretakers. And I am glad he found love in this lifetime. 

By the way, there are a couple of pictures of him smiling in the galley below. They are  the most recent pics I could find of him: taken with friends at a bar. He looks good. Healthy. Happy. 

Well, let's hope so. 

He deserves it.

Until next time...

Thanks for reading.

Sweet Leilani - Chris Isaak

One Love in My Lifetime - Diana Ross